02x17: The Search Begins

The ASG goes into the city to begin their search for Austin.

THE SEARCH BEGINS

 

     Behind all the commotion, these fifteen people all felt a little fear inside. They couldn’t help but fear what was to come. Behind them, the elevator dinged and none other than Dr. Suarez came out. Everyone remained silent as she walked in front of the exit doors, in front of the fifteen people.

     “Good evening to you all. You fifteen, are you ready?”

     “Yes ma’am,” They said.

     “From now on, you will be collectively known as the ASG.”

     “ASG? What’s that supposed to mean?” Lanz asked.

     “Austin Search Group,” Kyle said.

     “Who made that?”

     “I did.”

     “Ahem.”

     All attention was directed back at Dr. Suarez.

     “You will take the portals downstairs in the basement. Kyle, Berna, you cover the group with an illusionism and only become visible when you are in an isolated area.”

     Kyle and Berna nodded.

     “Now, you will take the portals to Makati City. Go to the Ascott Hotel and look for the reservation under Kristine Michelle S. Veloya.”

     “Ms. Kristine?” Patrick asked.

     Ms. Kristine was Austin’s 5^th Grade math teacher. She was really friendly especially to Maan, Austin, Noel, Lui, and the other Math Wizards.

     “Yes,” Dr. Suarez said. “We were looking for teachers who were willing to use their names for the reservation. Technically, in the city, we do not exist. There was a risk to their families and other complications. Ms. Kristine was brave enough to accept the offer.”

     “So after looking for the reservation, what’s next?” Kyle asked.

     “Actually, Samantha here can transform into other people right?”

     “Yes,” Patrick answered.

     “Good, she’ll be disguised as Ms. Kristine. She’ll be coming with you for the first part to make sure you get to the hotel safely. Then she’ll leave. We want the hotel to get a sense of consistency with Kristine Veloya’s personality. I doubt Ms. Samantha here knows Ms. Kristine’s personality perfectly.”

     “So after she’s disguised, what’s next?” Kyle asked.

     “Elementary, my dear Watson,” Lanz whispered to Cedric. They both laughed.

     “You’ll go into your rooms and sleep one night there. The next day, you split the three groups into three different directions. You then search for Austin. When you find him, call the other two groups to your location using the identifiers Kyle made. All fifteen of you will then pursue Austin, capture him, and put the band on him.”

     “That’s easier said than done,” Ernst said.

     “Well, you’ll have to do it, or in one month, game over.”

     “Dr. Suarez, may I say something… To them,” Kyle said, pointing to the remaining fourteen ASG members.

     “Go ahead.”

     “Listen, you all know this but maybe you just got too full of yourselves awhile ago. You are going to experience the most threatening experiences here. I’m psychic but Austin right now is blocking my foresight so I don’t know how many will survive, die, get hurt, or if we will even succeed. We have the whole of November to do this. After that, whatever ‘Game Over’ means, it’s gonna happen. So if any of you is feeling doubtful about their capabilities, please save yourself and step back now.”

     None of them moved an inch.

     “Now that is the team I want. Now, I might act like leader but let me assure you, I’m not. You can all be leaders. Now, I have never made a speech like this before, I feel like we’re going into war but no. In war, freedom and sovereignty is at stake. In here, the whole world is at stake. Whatever ‘Game Over’ means, it’s not going to be good. There’s fifteen of us and one of him. Look, if I can be strangled, thrown around, blasted, and dropped, you can too. Look at me, I’m a nerd. I gotta admit that but I went through a lot more than some of you did. And believe me; you can endure a lot more than me. Look at Berna here; she knocked out a crazed mutant last year. Lanz wrecked the entire Mall of Asia. Patrick took out some armed and dangerous guards. And I’m pretty sure anyone who was here last year was in a dangerous situation. This mission could be easier or harder or even impossible but ok… What I’m trying to say is this: We have to expect the worst. We will endure the worst. We will face the worst. And we will definitely conquer the worst. Now, all your things are packed, both concrete and abstract and I just unconsciously made a rhyme but now, we shall head to the basement and begin the mission.”

     Everyone went down to the basement to see the ASG go. The first group went in. The second group went in. Before the third group went in, Ms Kristine caught up with them.

     “Sam! Sam!” Ms. Kristine said.

     “Ms. Kristine!”

     “Here’s a few of my clothes. Use them for the disguise. All of you are out of uniform anyway so just disguise yourself as soon as possible. Good luck to all of you.”

      In the crowd, a familiar face called.

     “Kyle!”

     Kyle turned to look.

     “Sr. Armand.”

     Sr. Armand was Austin’s Grade 6 math teacher and supporter.

     “Kyle, promise me you’ll get Austin back here alive and well.”

     Kyle thought about it.

     “Yes sir, I’ll bring him back or I won’t come back at all.”

     Sr. Edmond caught up with them.

     “Janella, good luck in getting him back.”

     “Thanks Sr. Edmond,” Janella said.

     The third group finally went through. Janella heard the faint sound of Sr. Edmond wishing Ernst luck too. After a while, they found themselves in a crowd.

 

The other two groups were waiting. Kyle and Berna shrouded their group in illusionism.

     “What took you guys so long?” Ernst asked.

     “Shh… We’re invisible remember?”

     “Hurry, I found a place where we can go visible.”

     “How’d the others turn invisible?”

     “Joseph bent the light around them. Lumokinesis remember? As for Roey’s group, he turned the Ninjas and Magic card ‘reflect’ into a 3D mirror.”

     “Smart.”

     “Hurry, let’s not waste time.”

     Ms. Kristine shortly arrived behind them. Kyle put an illusionism on her immediately.

     “Thanks, Kyle.”

     “Hurry, follow me,” Ernst said.

     They followed Ernst to an abandoned warehouse. There was a big room in the middle and two small rooms on the north side and on the west side.

     “Hurry, Samantha, can you wear my clothes under yours?”

     “Sure, I think.”

     Ms. Kristine and Sam went in the bathroom on the west side.  Meanwhile, everyone went out of hiding.

     “So here we are in the city,” Lanz began. “Let’s give us a round of applause.”

     “Not you Lanz,” Kyle said.

     Janella remained quiet while sitting on a pile of boxes. Ernst approached her.

     “We’re gonna get him back,” Ernst said.

     “I know but, what happened exactly.”

     “Everyone was shocked about the news. Some are still in shock, like me, Kyle, Berna and you, obviously.”

     “I wonder what ‘Game Over’ means.”

    “Well, obviously, Lanz isn’t still in shock. He’s a bit of a clown if you ask me.”

     “ERNST!”

     “Oh sorry. I don’t know what ‘Game Over’ could be. Maybe he’s gonna blow up the world. Or kill everyone.”

     “I had a dream once, I think Saturday night. I just can’t forget it.”

     “What happened in the dream?”

     “Austin was destroying the hotel, and then he shot you with a psychic orb or something. Then he hurtled one at me.”

     “Why don’t you tell Kyle? He’s psychic, he can interpret that.”

     “Can you call him for me?”

     “Sure, wait here.”

     Ernst walked over to Kyle. He was lying down on the floor, resting his head on a folded up box.

     “Kyle, Janella had a dream Saturday night.”

     “Yeah? About what?”

     “Austin. Maybe it’s a clue to ‘Game Over’ ”

     “Maybe we should just stop worrying about it and just catch Austin you know.”

     “Kyle, in order to succeed, you must know what’s at stake.”

     “Ok, I’ll do it.”

     Ernst took Kyle to Janella as she explained the dream to him. Kyle felt a sense of Déjà vu. He remained silent.

     “Kyle? You okay?” Janella asked.

     “Yeah, it’s just that, it just seems so familiar.”

     “You had the same dream I did?”

     “No, it happened last year. Four bullies who picked on Austin a lot threw him into the Dome of Power. You see overmutation can kill you but Austin survived because he was hit with an extra dose. Think of it like a vaccine. Anyway, while I thought he was dead, the bullies, Dave, PJ, Jelo, and Ivan, they brought together all the people who hated Austin. They charged for the hotel and blew it up, much like in your dream. Then a few moments later, there were three left standing: Me, Lanz and Berna. Imagine it as an analogy. I’m Austin. My best friend is Ernst and I like you. On the other hand, I’m Kyle, My best, well not really best, but friend was Lanz, and I liked Berna. The Mastermind, possessing Ivan Chan over there, he fired a psychic blast at Lanz then Berna. But there’s something wrong. I was the one who fought back. But Austin was the one who attacked. So who’s gonna fight back?”

    “Interesting theory,” Berna suddenly said, catching Kyle off-guard.

     “Berna! Hey!”

     “Well, going with your analogy, I’d say, find all of Ernst’s friends and find all people who like Janella. Cross reference them and one of the common names are gonna fight back.”

     Kyle faced Janella.

     “I know some of Ernst’s friends. Do you know anyone else who likes you?”

     “Not that I know of.”

     “WOW, YOU LOOK AWESOME!” Patrick exclaimed at the top of his voice.

     Sam came out wearing Ms. Kristine’s clothes under her black jacket.

     “Don’t you think it makes her look like she’s wearing a winter suit?” Kyle asked.

     “Actually, Ms. Kristine’s power is material manipulation. She can make her clothes stretch when she wants to,” Sam said

      “Here, maybe this’ll feel better,” Ms. Kristine said as she waved her hand over Sam’s head. Her clothes started to look like they were a few minutes ago.

     “That’s a lot better Ms. Kristine. Thanks.”

     “No problem, let’s go. All of you.”

     They went out of the warehouse and back into the city.

 

It wasn’t too far from the hotel. It just took twenty minutes to get there by walking. When they were in the parking lot, Ms. Kristine waved her hand over Sam. Her clothes puffed out again.

     “I’m gonna hide in this wall, when I do, transform into me. When you transform into me, you’ll automatically be fed the data of my signature. Sign the papers the person at the front desk gives you. Then go into your room. That’s three suites. Dr. Suarez is paying for everything but try not to waste too much money. Before you turn into me, take off your Sam clothes and only leave on mine or else, yours will rip. Good luck to all of you.”

     Ms. Kristine waited for the parking lot to clear up. She then put her hands to the wall and made a chamber inside. She stepped in and locked herself leaving a little airhole.

     “When you’ve checked in, send me a psychic message, I’ll tell them to pick me up. If there’s any trouble, come to this spot. Hurry, go!”

     The parking lot was still empty. Sam took off her jacket and the outer layer of her pants revealing larger, Ms. Kristine sized pants. She then started to transform into Ms. Kristine. After a few seconds, in front of them stood Ms. Kristine.

     “Testing, testing, how do I sound, Patrick?”

     “Just like Ms. Kristine,” he answered.

     She walked towards a car, checking her reflection.

     “How do I look?”

     “Stunning.”

     “Let’s get a move on. Hurry,” Kyle said as they went to the elevators. There were two elevators.

     “Group one, Michael, Lanz, and Cedric, that elevator. The rest, in this one.”

     The people in the first elevator entered. The other elevator with Kyle already left. Then, an old lady stepped into the elevator as well.

     “This seems familiar,” Cedric whispered to Lanz.

     “Kids, they’re inhabiting this planet. This is the second time this has happened to me. Last time, it was in the Mall of…”

     “Let’s pray she doesn’t talk about cats again,” Lanz whispered to Cedric.

     “Thanks for reminding me young lad but last time I talked about my adorable Persian kitties, the mall I was in blew up.”

     “I thought it was Peruvian,” Cedric whispered to Lanz.

 

They finally reached the lobby. Sam was feeling nervous. On the other elevator, the old woman walked off to some other place while the members of the ASG followed up.

     “You know what’s weird? That woman was the same one who went with us in the Mall of Asia. You don’t think this hotel will blow up do you?” Lanz asked to Kyle.

     “No worries. We’re not undercover this time.”

     “Pat,” Sam said nervously. “I’m not sure if I can do this.”

     “Just go and be yourself. Well no, I mean be Ms. Kristine. You get what I mean. Believe in yourself…, or in Ms. Kristine. UGH! Just, go for it.”

     “Ok, wait there, I don’t want you listening to me,” Sam said while pointing to the lobby lounge.

     “Ok. Good luck.”

     Patrick went to the others.

     “EVERYONE, TO THE LOUNGE!”

     Everyone followed him and they all sat. Silence followed. Lanz then took out a deck of playing cards out of nowhere.

     “OK! Who wants to play some Texas Hold’Em?” he asked. Rico, Ricardo, Michael, Ivan, Cedric, Patrick, and Kyle raised their hands.

     “Kyle? Seriously?” Lanz asked.

     “I just wanna lighten up a little, ya know.”

     “Y’all got your own money?”

     They shook their heads and mumbled “No” or “I don’t think so.”

     “Fine, no real money. Let’s just do this for fun.”

     Cedric brought the chips. He gave the players their money and Lanz dealt the cards. Sam took a fairly long time. They were able to play three hands. Surprisingly, Kyle was the one with the most money.

     “Damn Kyle, how much poker do you play?” Lanz asked.

     “A little. It’s called luck.”

     Sam walked over to them.

     “Guys, we got three suites on the 11^th floor. Let’s go.”

     They took the elevator there and finally arrived in the room. They split up by groups. In the rooms were two bedrooms with one bed each, a sala with a long couch and two small seats, and a Home Theatre System and a TV, a kitchen, a closet, and two bathrooms.

      “I’ll send Ms. Kristine the message already,” Kyle said.

     He sent the message and went into his suite.

     In group one’s room, the guys had to share beds. Johann and Joseph were reluctant but had no choice. Rico and Ricardo were harder and Rico just decided to sleep in the sala saying, “At least the kitchen is nearby.” Ernst was also sleeping in the sala.

     In the second group’s room, Lanz and Cedric refused to sleep in one bed and just decided to sleep near the kitchen. Roey and Ivan had no choice but to sleep together. Michael had the room all to himself.

     In the third group’s room however, Obviously, Kyle and Berna slept in one room. Patrick and Sam did too. Janella had no choice but to sleep on the couch.

 

That night, in the second group’s room. Cedric and Lanz were watching Final Destination 2 on the Home Theatre system.

     “OHHHH S**T!” They yelled in unison.

     “Damn, her head got chopped off by that ****ing elevator,” Lanz said.

     “Man, I always loved that death.”

     “How many times have you seen this man?”

     “Eight.”

     “Seven!”

     “Don’t brag about one less!”

     “…teen. SEVENTEEN SUCKA!”

     Michael busted in the room.

     “YOU TWO SHUT UP OR I’LL TURN MY ARMS INTO FRICKING ARMILADES AND SHOOT YOU THROUGH THAT GLASS WINDOW!”

     “It’ll just be like Watchmen only there are two of us and it’s not playing Unforgettable on the…” Lanz said before Michael interrupted with a “SHUT UP!” Ivan and Roey soon went out.

     “How can we get some sleep for tomorrow’s mission if you guys keep on yelling at each other?” Ivan said.

     “Help me or I’ll send in my Ninjas and Magic Assassin to shut you all up,” Roey threatened them.

     “Fine, just stop the movie, let’s get to sleep,” Cedric said.

     “Wait, this is the part where she gets owned by the airbag,” Lanz said.

     “Oh, I always loved that part,” Michael said.

     “How many times have you…” Lanz asked.

     ”Twenty-five. Ask no further.”

 

In the first group’s room, it was much more peaceful. Ernst woke up in the middle of night, unable to sleep.

     “Man, what does a guy do to get a good night’s sleep?”

     He looked at Rico. He was sleeping like a baby… bear. He snuck around him as he snored. He went to the kitchen and brought out some bread and milk. He made himself a sandwich and poured himself some milk.

     “I love Midnight Snacks.”

     Ernst’s heart then skipped a beat when he saw Rico’s head rise slowly from the couch. He stood up and turned around.

     “WHAT DA HEAVEN?”

     “It’s just a midnight snack.”

     “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

     “You were sleeping like a baby… (coughbearcough)”

     “I’m sorry, what did you cough about?”

     “Never mind, Join me?”

     “Yeah,” Rico started as he made himself a sandwich. “You know, Cado is so lucky! He gets a bed all to himself.”

     “Yeah. But at least we’re near the kitchen.”

     Rico had a big smile on his face at Ernst’s comment as he took a giant bite out of his sandwich.

    

The third group’s room was the quietest. Janella couldn’t sleep at all; she just stared out the floor to ceiling windows into the beautiful cityscape. She was thinking about what Kyle had told him. She imagined the chaos last year for some reason, how it might happen again. After a while, she’d fall asleep but only be woken up because of a dream of Austin sinking the island. She tried to resist sleeping because she can’t bear the sight of the island sinking because of Austin. A few minutes past midnight, Berna came out of the room.

     “Insomnia?” she asked. Janella just nodded.

     “Don’t feel intimidated with me. I’ve been through a lot but you can still talk to me. What’s bothering you? I can guess it’s because of Austin.”

     “Yeah, sorta,” Janella answered.

     “Well, Austin and I aren’t really close but he’s brave. Weak but brave. Well not really weak, he did beat the Mastermind last year. But he had to be pushed around a bit. I think he’s pretty strengthened now.”

     “He beat the Mastermind?”

     “Pulled him right out of Ivan Chan’s head. Then he collapsed after that but he was fine.”

     “Why are you out here? Can’t sleep either, huh?”

     “Well, sorta. I’m just not used to sleeping beside Kyle. You know, even though we’re in different schools, we still talk a lot. Sure we’re on the same floor on the same hotel but still.”

     “Austin and I don’t talk that much.”

     “He likes you, doesn’t he?”

     “Yeah.”

     “And you like him?”

     “I’m not really sure, he’s nice but he can be noisy sometimes, and he annoys and tortures Ernst.”

     “That’s the Austin I know, since 5^th grade.”

     “You’ve been classmates since 5^th Grade?”

     “Yeah, they had the ‘Star Section’ consisting of all the people who excelled the previous year. But they scrapped the idea now and just mixed everyone up.”

      “Oh,”

     “You know, when suffering from insomnia, you’re never really awake but never really asleep.”

     “That’s sounds familiar.”

     “I read it online. Anyway, good luck getting to sleep. I’m going back in.”

     “Ok, thanks for the company.”

     “Unless, you’d like to go have a girls’ night out?”

     “Nah, I’m too sleepy.”

     “What about we just have a midnight snack? How about some warm milk to help you get to sleep?”

     “Sure.”

     “S**T! THE BARB WIRE JUST CUT THROUGH THAT GUY! DAMN!” They were shouting from the other room.

     “UGH! Lanz and Cedric are watching Final Destination 2 again.”

     Berna closed her eyes and sent a message to the other room. “Keep it down boys.”

     “There, let’s drink and eat.”

     “SCREW THE OTHER ROOM. WHO WANTS MIDNIGHT SNACKS?”

     “Darn it! KEEP IT DOWN!”

     Kyle stepped out of the room.

     “What’s with all the noise?”

     “Lanz and Cedric, watching Final Destination.”

     “What’re you doing out here?”

     “Keeping Janella company.”

     “Okay, I’ll tell the boys to shut up and go right back to sleep.”

     Kyle stepped out of the room.

     “Kyle's really nice,” Berna said

     “Yeah. Austin and him are best friends?”

     “Yup. Since 5^th Grade.”

     “I wonder who’s Joel then.”

     “Turla?”

     “Yes.”

     “Well, I think Austin and him were last classmates in third Grade.”

     “Well, Joel does talk to him about the 3^rd Grade a lot.”

     Kyle just went back in the room, soaked in milk.

     “Don’t ask.”

     The two girls were smiling, they were definitely laughing inside.

     “They told me they’d shut up if I allowed them to soak me in cold milk okay? Either that or Michael shoots me through the window.”

     “I would’ve taken the milk too,” Berna said.

     “Great minds think alike!”

     “I doubt you’re gonna go to bed like that.”

     “You doubted correctly. I’ll change. You have your girl’s midnight snack or something.”

     “Good night!”

     Kyle went in the room.

     “He’s just great don’t you think?” Berna said.

 

The next day, they started searching the places where Austin could’ve been. Austin always loved the number three for some reason. He’d always appear on the identifier in three different locations but all three would’ve been a useless wild goose chase. After one week, this was proving useless so they decided to take a break.

     Lanz, Cedric, and Michael had another Guy’s Night watching Final Destination 3 since they were gonna watch the fourth Final Destination movie on their vacation in the nearby mall, Glorietta.

     Little did they know that history was about to repeat itself.